In recent years, the problem of intensive use of a large number of antibiotics in medical practice has become increasingly serious. Improper use of antibiotics exerts a selective evolutionary pressure on microorganisms, especially bacteria, resulting in a sharp increase in the number and species of resistant bacteria, even causing a “superbug” which can resist a variety of antibiotics. In general, most new antibiotics will lose their original efficacy within a number of years due to appearance of drug resistance of pathogens. For example, penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae is very sensitive to drugs such as penicillin, erythromycin and sulfanilamide in the past, but is almost ineffective now. For another example, common sources of infection such as Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Genus Enterococcus and Pseudomona aeruginosa gradually become multi-resistant, and have resistances to the commonly used β-lactams, quinolinone, novel macrolides and cephalosporins, even vancomycin. For yet another example, data indicate that resistances of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to eight antibiotics such as amoxicillin and zinacef reach 100%, and resistances of Klebsiella pneumoniae to 16 high-grade antibiotics such as zinacef and fortum reach up to 51.85-100%. While methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus can only be cured by vancomycin.
Generation of a large number of resistant bacteria brings about more and more intractable infections, resulting in increasingly more risks of bacterial infection and increasingly more costs on treatment of infectious diseases. How to reduce resistance of bacteria to antibiotics and increase sensitivity of bacteria to antibiotics has become a problem of great concern in the medical field.
The name of Chinese traditional herb “Honeysuckle” originates from “Compendium of Materia Medica”, and is the general designation of Chinese herbs and plants. The honeysuckle of plants is also known as lonicera japonica, which is a perennial semi-evergreen twining woody liana of caprifoliaceae. Lonicera japonica is named as honeysuckle owing to blooming initially white flower, and then changing into yellow flower. Honeysuckle of herbs is the plant of lonicera japonica of lonicera linn in caprifoliaceae and dried buds or primal flowers of congeneric plants.
Honeysuckle has been praised as excellent medicine with heat-clearing and detoxifying effect since ancient times, which is one of medicines commonly used for heat-clearing and detoxifying in traditional Chinese medicine. Since thousands of years, honeysuckle has been playing a prominent effect in clinic, and well-loved in the doctor and patient populations. Honeysuckle, sweet in taste, cold in nature and having aromatic scent, can clear heat without hurting stomach, and not only has aromatic scent but also can eliminate pathogenic factors. Honeysuckle not only can dissipate wind-heat, but also is good at detoxification of blood, and is therefore used for treating various febrile diseases such as fever, eruption, skin patch, heat toxic swelling sore, and sore throat and the treatment effect is significant. Modern research preliminarily discusses the heat-clearing and detoxifying mechanisms of honeysuckle. For example, honeysuckle has significant antipyretic and anti-inflammatory effects, intraperitoneal injection of 0.25 g/kg honeysuckle extract can inhibit rat swollen feet caused by carrageenan; injection of 30-40 g/kg honeysuckle extract can alleviate degree of egg white foot swelling; and injection of 8 g/kg honeysuckle extract twice a day also has significant anti-exudative and anti-proliferative effects on rat croton oil granuloma pouch. It is also considered that honeysuckle has important regulatory effect on body immune system, and honeysuckle decoction promotes the phagocytosis of white blood cells; intraperitoneal injection of honeysuckle also has significant effect on promoting phagocytosis of inflammatory cells.
Studies on the chemical compositions of honeysuckle show that, honeysuckle contains organic acids, triterpenoid saponins, flavonoids and glycosides thereof, iridoid glycosides, volatile oils and so on. Research has been carried out currently to extract the active ingredients of honeysuckle and prove their efficacy, but so far, there has been no report of enhancing the sensitivity of bacteria to antibiotics by using honeysuckle extract in combination with antibiotics.